


Timeless

by CinnamonBunn



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Currently 4 AUs, F/M, Just don't want spoilers, More characters to be listed - Freeform, Multi, Multiverse hell, Oh look-another, Reverse Harem, Undertale Multiverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-03-31 07:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13970256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonBunn/pseuds/CinnamonBunn
Summary: Sans watched it for a while; the arm was attached to a larger base where it extended over it, scanning her body for a sign of anything wrong or amiss as she slept. He found it a little wrong to say that she was sleeping. It looked as if she were—peaceful, comfortable—all the things someone asleep looked. But when he left and came back a few hours later, she would not be awake.





	1. I've Got Your Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are they important? Do they mean something?
> 
> “What did you say?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are random, usually ranging from the back-to-back updates within 2 days to being a week apart. There is literally no set time, I just write when I have time and the inspiration hasn't left me. You should also know that I am inexpressibly enthused that you are reading this right now. This story has been an idea of mine since the end of last year. I honestly hope you enjoy this as much as I am loving writing it. 'Cuz it's hard, ya know? I've got a lot of it planned out and all that, though the hardest part is definitely writing it all out.
> 
> I love seeing your comments, your kudos, and the fact that you're still sticking with this. And a bit of advice for all of you writers?
> 
> Keep going, kid. You've got this.

“hey. maybe you should hide behind this conveniently placed lamp, the flowers talk. we need all seven soul’s when the prince broke the barrier. he’s the coolest.”

“I AM THE GREATEST!”

“yeah, lil’ bro.”

“She went missing years ago, I-I’m afraid. . . . No one—”

“—is allowed back here. alright?”

*He doesn’t listen. 

 

 

The voices swim around in her mind. They sound familiar, as if she just listened, their names would slip past her lips. She also feels off. Those voices—does she really know them? Do they—do they _mean_ something? Are they important?

The woman continues to search for the source, blind and unknowing of where she is. She can’t feel a thing. Yet…

Someone is asking her a question. And they sound so small.

Her eyes open. The sudden flood of light has her holding her breath and going completely still. There’s a rustling around her, and suddenly the world shifts.

She is standing, staring into a cavern of darkness. She takes a step backwards on instinct to get away from it. There is more rustling, and she turn towards it. Several feet behind her a giant goat stands, hands folded in front of him as he stares at her with a look of deep concern over the planes of his bearded face. She gapes at him. He wears a long purple and silver gown, an insignia stitched on it. She can’t help it; the only monsters she have actually seen were on TV—on the rare occasions she watched the news—and the…. Who had she just been thinking about? She whirls around, searching up and down for a sign of where she is. A child stops her.

They wear a concerned and mildly frightened expression. Their clothes are dusted with dirt and stained in some spots with grass. Their brown hair obscures half their face until they brush it away, crimson eyes visible and wide. Y/n steps forward. “Hey. . .”

“Goodness! I was not sure if you would—if you had, well. . . .” The goat’s voice is sudden and low. Y/n whirls and blinks at the tone, so warm, in this cold place. She stands between the child and monster. Wait. Why—Does she know him? What is he doing here anyway? Why is this _child_ here?

“…I…I’m fine.” Y/n half-turns behind her to the child in green and yellow. They put a hand on their arm, a sunny smile brightening their face and effectively covering their wobbly tone. “Nothing but a scratch,” they add at her long stare.

“What a relief!” The goat bellows. His tone perks in a relieved sigh. “Well if nothing is wrong, I should introduce myself. I am ASGORE, caretaker of the Ruins. I have come here every day to see if another…child has fallen.”

“Have there been that many?” The child turns their face to the ground. Y/n stares expectantly up at the monster. He doesn’t answer her, a warm expression still on his face. She turns her face to the ground, a shiver running down her spine. Children?

Asgore chuckles. “It does get awfully chilly down here at times.” The goat monster extends a hand to the child. Y/n glares at him. Why has he completely ignored her? She _is_ standing right. Here. “Shall we go young human?”

Before the kid can have a chance to answer, Y/n throws up her hands. “Hello?” she asks. “You didn’t even answer their question.” She stares up at the goat. He still stands there with his hand extended and eyes expectant. If Y/n didn’t know any better, she would say that he might even be excited. Why would he? Monsters have been aboveground for years now? That curiosity of humans have somewhat worn off now. She knows. Her—

A stab of pain hits her head. The thought dissipates with it. She winces, cradling her head in one hand. “Come on.” The voice is soft, whisper-like. A hand on her arm that she hadn’t known was there is removed before Y/n can look up. The child takes Asgore’s hand. They are dwarfed by the monster, which reminds her of a child and stuffed animal.

_That voice must have been the little kid’s. Why do they want me to come when Asgore has obviously ignored my existence?_

Y/n looks around the cave. It’s all rock and vines. Creepy and cold. She tilts her head back to the ceiling, wondering why Asgore would say the child fell. She can’t see any conceivable way they could have climbed and landed exactly in the center, especially after testing a few vines with her own weight. It’s dark up there, giving Y/n the impression that whatever is up there, it… Another stab of pain goes through her head. Wincing again, Y/n decides that following a monster and child through the darkness just might be better than standing alone.

\---

Hours pass. Y/n stands back and watches as the goat monster leads the kid through the Ruins. He guides them through obvious puzzles and attempts to confuse them by hiding behind many pillars. The levers are labeled so the (obviously) educated child knows what they say. Y/n is surprised Asgore knows English; though she supposes that may be because he’s—well, a monster. She attempts to pet a few Froggits in boredom. Her hand passes right through them, but it does not occur to her the action is off. The child, after all, does not seem to be able to touch them either. All the frog-like monsters do is make odd _ribbit_ sounds and seem to understand what the child says to them. Whenever they “go into battle” (as Asgore so explained) with a monster, Y/n can’t tell the difference. Other than the blurs of motion and the kid laughing with one of them, she isn’t convinced at all the kid actually “fights” anyone at all.

Y/n follows them around a pillar, watching them in silence. The puzzle at the beginning of the room said to find the red switch. It was too easy for them to find it. Leaning against another pillar, Y/n sighs deeply. She doesn’t know what time it is. Where she even is. Still, she is not worried.

Turning towards the child as they read the next instruction, she asks, “What’s your name?”

“Chara.”

“Y/n.”

Chara stares at the plaque longer than they have before. Y/n keeps her stare at their back. She’s curious of the silent, observant child. Their stare holds more knowledge than someone their age ought to have—and that immediately unsettled Y/n. There was a puzzle a while back that they had completed; it was a room full of wired patches. Without even looking at where they were going, the child walked in a weird patter and completed it. Not knowing anything about where they were, Y/n followed the younger human. At one point before crossing all the patches, she looked down to maybe get an idea of what the kid had been avoiding. A rotten smell seemed to float up directly under her, and Y/n quickly moved away.

Flipping the switch to deactivate another set of alarming spikes (Y/n almost had a heart attack when Asgore guided them through a floating spike platform) Chara moves on to the next room. She can’t tell why, but she gets the idea that Chara knows she will follow wherever they go.

“How old are you?” They stand at a fork. Chara seems to be thinking.

They shrug.

“Okay… How about your gender? Do you have one?”

The faint circles of blush on Chara’s face begin to brighten. They turn their head quick and begin to stalk on forward. Y/n bristles. “Uh,” she frowns once she has caught up to them. They continue walking ahead fast. “Sorry. I—Sorry.” She lets the hand that had been about to pat Chara on the shoulder fall.

A twinkle in the red leaves catches in Y/n’s eye. She blinks. Hm. Chara walks towards it, bending down and picking up whatever it may have been. Y/n blinks. Hm. That’s maybe the second or third twinkling object in the red leaves she has seen since leaving the cave. Not to mention the cheese and mouse hole.

Straightening themselves, Chara brushes dirt from their knees. “Don’t sweat it.” They look up and around the walls. The walls have been gray the entire time, surprising Y/n in their soft, yet sad color. She wonders if it has anything to do with Asgore.

Y/n furrows her brows. “What did you say?”

Chara smiles. It’s the same forget-any-and-everything kind of smile they used on Asgore when the monster began asking too many personal questions. Y/n let herself be dazzled by such a bright smile. When Chara turns away, their hands are twined behind their back and they skip ahead to the next room.

Standing beside Chara as they stare up at the small structure, Y/n crosses her arms. It’s gray, much like every other brick in the Ruins. Two windows have been cut out on either side of the door; and on them, golden curtains block any sight of the inside. Y/n stares at it for a minute longer. She glances down at the child, about to ask them if they know who lives here— And their expression stops her. It’s full of pain. Like someone stabbed them in their heart.

Snatching her gaze away, Y/n acts on a sister-like impulse and grabs their clenched fist. She feels the child flinch. It’s a new thing and Y/n loses her grip—until she catches their hand again, this time careful to be more gentle. “Come on, kiddo. I’ve got your back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be shy! Drop a comment. A thought on anything from how you think this part (or the others) should/could have gone, what you think will happen next, and--for those of you just coming along--the AU's to-be featured!! I 'd love hearing from all of you!


	2. Stay Determined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opening her eyes, a feeling of weightlessness gripped something deep within her body. It felt strange. Wrong.
> 
> They were trying to say something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, thank you everyone for coming back for the 2nd chapter!!
> 
> Secondly, I know that when someone writes (especially fiction) the reader is sometimes left in the dark about things. So. For the beginning chapters, things are repeated. Phrases, sentences, thoughts. It's because, where (you) are, you are effected differently by things. It ends--soon. But... Is that vague? Seems like it; I just can't spoil anything!

It was Asgore’s house after all.                                  

Y/n held tight of Chara’s hand until they asked Asgore to go to bed. The goat was all too happy in accommodating to the human’s request. He tucked them in to bed, read them a story, and kissed their head goodnight when Chara began to snore softly. Y/n found the last hour a mix of adorable (on Chara’s end) and increasingly concerning (on Asgore’s side). She rose from her seat on the old toy box some time after the goat left. It was not comfortable, but she would have rather stayed with the kid in her sight than go explore the house. Now though, Chara is asleep and hopefully Asgore is too. From his earlier comment, “I am surprised you have not turned in sooner, little one.” Y/n was sure the time here is late. She rolls out her neck and goes over to where Chara sleeps.

Y/n isn’t sure what, or why compels her into stroking their soft hair. They unconsciously lean into her touch and she feels something within her crumble. Leaning down, she lands a light kiss on their forhead and whisper, “I’m sorry, kiddo.”

Closing the door softly behind herself, Y/n debates on which way to go. To her right the front door, kitchen, and basement. To her other side, what looked like more rooms and a pile of boxes. She begins stepping towards her right only to stop herself. Something in her conscious tells her that whatever she does and says, Asgore will continue to ignore her so trying to talk with him will be pointless. Sighing, she turns the other way. It seems every living being except Chara—and maybe Dummy—have ignored her completely.

Another sharp pain goes through her mind. It thwarts her train of thought. Another follows it. Y/n winces, but maintains her balances. Shaking her head, she slowly makes her way to the next room. These headaches are just getting worse, aren’t they?

As she thinks this, Y/n stumbles into the boxes. They tumble to the groud under her weight. She squeezes her eyes shut against the pain. It hurts. But it doesn’t. After the first or two throbs, Y/n is hit with the realization that this isn’t going away. It is going to stay…. And it’s going to keep hurting her…..

\---

Y/n opens her eyes to darkness. She stills. “Chara? Papyrus?” She stands up, stretching her hands out in front of her to feel for anything. She takes a tentative step forward. Why is it so dark? “Hey guys! If this is some kind of joke it isn’t very funny!” Who is she calling for? Last she checked… Actually, she can’t say. She stops. Why—What is it?

Her train of thought passes like a mist. She touches her eyes to make sure they are open; to see if there may be something covering her eyes. The drop of disappointment in her stomach is hard, but she feels no panic. She could be asleep. She does sometimes fall into a deep sleep every now and then. It isn’t weird for her to burn herself out with work and odd little projects.

Comforted by the fact the dark, unseeing void is her subconscious, Y/n carefully sits cross-legged on the ground. She hums idly. It’s a little chilly, though it doesn’t bother Y/n at all. The first thoughts that come to mind are  what to plant in her garden at the greenhouse. She holds onto them, grabbing onto memories of flowers she has had before. Should she plant gardenias? Or maybe cape jasmine since it will be in high demand in a few months; brides tend to like little flowers like the jasmine and forget-me-nots. Because of the wedding season, she _does_ have a few hand-picked flowers. From white chrysanthemums to waterlily tulips. Her garden will be mostly white and red at the end of the month due to the demand of flower bouquets. She wonders if she should go check on the sprouts now—er, when she wakes up.

Suddenly, Y/n knows she is not alone in the darkness. She remains very still, going to the extent of holding her breath. It feels as if—

A heart appears. She stares at it, bright and beating. It’s like the common heart, two perfect halves; and not the weird organ mess of a real heart. It feels…strange. To her horror, the bright red heart pulses once, before it shatters into piece.

**Don’t give up yet!**

**Stay DETERMINED… Chara.**

_Chara?_

Broken sobs startle Y/n from her seat on the ground. It sounds small. Something warm hits her back and without a chance to brace herself, the woman is thrown forward to the ground. The object on top of hers is hot, small, and trembling. Y/n stays there, staring at her own hands. She can see! Spots blink in and out of her vision. Whatever it is (and she prays it isn’t something weird) has brought her light! It kind of hurts but—

Another heaving sob goes through Y/n’s ears. _It—Is that a…_ “Human….” She had slowly gotten up, twisting around so she could hold on to whatever was on her back. She bit her lip when the brown hair and impossibly warm flesh of a human registered in her mind. They are small, maybe the size of a child. And they have yet to stop trembling.

Conflicted. Y/n feels conflicted. What is a _child_ doing here? She had been so sure she was asleep. It seems too real to be just a dream. From her own experience, Y/n knows she has never had many vivid dreams; so why start now? This child—they feel real. And that sense of dread in her heart as she saw the red one above her shatter? That is too much. Something isn’t adding up.

Gasping, the child clings to the front of Y/n’s shirt. They hold her there, tight like a koala. She acts on instinct: rubbing their back, rocking them slowly. She cared for kids as a teen and adult; always as a babysitter. All kids want attention, she found rather quickly. But this one… Staring down at their brown head, Y/n found it hard to ignore the itch in her mind whispering this child is different.

~

Opening her eyes, Y/n gasps. A feeling of weightlessness grips something within her body. It feels strange. Wrong. The bright flowers ahead of her seem to dip left and right, as if on a tipping scale. She catches sight of gray and purple, though the strange sensation in her chest holds her thoughts more than that shattered crown does. Something sneers at her, their face covered by shadows. Orange and black wave in front of her eyes, like a dead flag caught in the wind. Is that someone crying? Who is calling for her? Who is yelling at her?

 _“What are you doing here? Why are you here?”_ Y/n stares around her wildly. Distantly, she hears someone talking to her. They are saying something—they _want_ something. But she still sees the blurring colors, the world is still spinning. It fades in and out like flashing lights. One seconds there’s a golden light around her; the next she’s staring at luminescent blue bulbs. The voice fades with the dozens of voices, dozens of sentences all in her ears.

Weightless, disoriented, and terrified, Y/n is helpless to help herself. She doesn’t know. Where she is. Who is after her. Where is everyone she cares for. Why is it that she is alone?

Have they…abandoned her?

She still has a feeling of that wrongness in her chest.


	3. How Ambiguous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You can’t do that. You—My—You can’t take my SOUL. You can’t see it.” She shivers. She is reeling away from the light, from the child, from herself, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so maybe it’s time to stop the blackouts.

This feeling in her chest, the unrest in her stomach. Y/n closes her eyes against both, a vain attempt to sort through her mind for the catalyst for both. Why is it hard to remember how she got here? That, just five minutes ago, she could have sworn this… _place_ was an unseeable darkness; yet now it’s like a pale gold. Thinking this, Y/n risks opening an eye and—Yep. That child, the one with dark crimson eyes—they are still staring at her. As if they are waiting on her. Y/n wants to say something, ask why the two of them are here. But something tells her she isn’t going to like the answer.

Shutting her eyes again, Y/n focuses on keeping a steady breath. Panic is ready to leap out her chest and strangle her to death. And while it would certainly give her more to do than running around in the circles of her mind, Y/n would rather not die; she would rather not leave _them_ alone.

“What do you remember?” the child say suddenly, their voice cool and soft.

“ _Remember?”_ Y/n repeats incredulity.

The child cuts their gaze to the ground. They are at least two yards away, but Y/n can’t help but feels as if there is a greater distance between the two of them. She tries to study them from afar, curious.

They begin walking towards her. Their head is now raised, gaze unwavering and clear, even from Y/n’s spot. She finds it still worrying, even as curiosity slowly burns away the fear that she did something _wrong_ by this child. When they come to a stop before her, Y/n isn’t sure what to expect. They certainly look young, as far as features go. Their cheekbones are noticeable under their lashes, long and dark as they stare up at her. They can’t be taller than five feet; though maybe four ten, as Y/n stares harder.

Her gazes travels up and down their form, finding their oversized sweater cute; marks on their hands obvious. She opens her mouth to say something, her eyes finding theirs. She stops. Does a double take. Their ruby eyes are so much more dazzling up close. She likes them, as far as their color and depth go. Though what makes Y/n clamp her mouth shut and rises hairs along her arms and neck is the uncanny heavy look in their stare.

Y/n covers her mouth. It may be just a normal thing. It may not be strange at all.

But as a million thoughts run across her mind, she can’t help but…doubt that. What can make such a young person have such a heavy gaze? To have such a depth of sadness and exhaustion in their eyes? She’s seen something similar—from older people.

“You don’t remember anything?”

Y/n shakes her head, hard. She blinks, eyes darting. “As in how I got here? No. Nothing.” _Why does it matter?_

The child narrows their eyes. Y/n snatches her gaze away, only for it to be drawn back by their conceding tone. “Really now? You can’t recall walking with me through the Ruins, seeing the monsters, _being a ghost?_ ”

Y/n stills. Her heart thumps painfully against her chest, like a reminder to breathe. The golden light presses against her eyelids as she closes them. _I’m not a ghost. I’m a human. I breathe; I bleed._

Yet it feels as if they are right about something.

The smaller human coughs. “So you really don’t know, huh?” They step closer and something in their voice sounds like pity. Y/n keeps her eyes shut, though now tighter than before.

There is silence for all of two minutes, before the child (or at least they look like one) is standing before Y/n. She only knows this from the soft rustling of their clothes, along with the small touch on her arm. Y/n’s chest tightens. She doesn’t _want_ to open her eyes. That light—this child— It’s all proof. Proof.

Turning her back to them, Y/n sighs. She can’t decide whether she wants to throw up or weep. “Do _you_ know why we’re here?” she asks with a surprising calmness.

“This is the Void.” Y/n turns in time to see their sweeping arm drop to their side. Her eyes widen in surprise. They continue in a monotone voice. “The place of nothing, defined as nothing, and made of nothing. This place is inescapable—a hell no one created.”

Y/n’s mouth drops.

She can barely utter a single word. All that comes out of her mouth is sounds, jumbled together in an attempt to speak. The child rolls their eyes, though not from annoyance. “You’re an anomaly trapped here,” they say without waiting for a flurry of questions. “I don’t know why you’re here. Or how long you’ll be here.”

“Wait.” Y/n shakes her head, holding a hand up. She stares at the ground as she speaks. “You say that—You say that like I’ll be here forever. As if,” her head jerks up in realization, horror striking her hard.

“I’ll never be able to leave.”

\---

“There is something I have to see.” Rolling their shoulders, the small human glances at Y/n. She has hardly moved since she found out. “It may feel odd at first. Things will dull. You may feel a little empty. But it will only be for a couple seconds, okay?” They stare up at her, brows drawn. Y/n stares over their head. She is barely even registering what they are saying.

After another minute of waiting for _some_ sort of reaction from the woman, the child proceeds to reaching out towards the center of Y/n’s chest. Something tugs, immediately responding to whatever they are doing. Y/n bristles, gaping down at the child. She should have been paying attention. If she hadn’t—If she had just paid attention. No one could—

“NO!!!” Snatching herself back from the gravitational pull of the child’s hand, Y/n covers her chest with her hands. She pants, jaw slack in disbelief. “You can’t do that,” she says lowly. “You—My—You can’t take it out. _You can’t see my SOUL.”_ She shivers.

The surprised look that had been on the child’s face is quickly wiped away with a dark one. They lower their hand, slowly, as they narrow their wide eyes at Y/n. Her eyes dart around like a frightened animal. She needs to leave; put some space between her and this child. Unfortunately, her body has other plans. Rooted to the ground in fear, Y/n only stares around her, the light too bright, the space around her too vast.

As her breathing continues petering and leaving her lugs in stuttering steps, the child inches closer towards her. “SOUL?” They cant their head in a way that Y/n would have found pretty adorable if— “How did you know that is what I was going to do?”

Y/n opens her mouth, the answer on the tip of her tongue. She tries saying it, stumbling through a mass of words until she ultimately shuts it. Their stare turns into a glare. Y/n stares at them, frozen for an entirely differently reason. They open their mouth, though before they can utter a sound, Y/n beats them to it. “Chara?”

Without finishing the rest of her question, Y/n cuts herself off. She is aware how she must sound in her high-pitched, half-questionable voice. But this child…. How had she not remembered them sooner? At least their name.

The person in question purses their lips, a thin line that quivers under some sort of unreadable pressure.

“You look at me as if I am a stranger to you,” their voice trembles. “I can tell you don’t know what’s going on; what you are doing here. But what I can’t make sense of is how you only remember select things. Not even _he_ knew what I could do.” Chara stares at the ground, fists balled. Y/n blinks.

_“He?”_

 Releasing her breath, Y/n risks standing and taking a step forward. The fear that had her paralyzed seems forgotten in her mind as the warning bells of missing something ring out in her mind. “Who do you mean?”

Chara says nothing, at least at first. They terrify Y/n when they suddenly drop to their knees, head bent and focus still on the ground. The woman lets out a shriek, rushing to them without a second thought. She notices they are still breathing, after futile attempts to have them speak to her.

“If you are going to be staying here, you should at least know that, yes, I’m a human.” They lift their head, ruby eyes only glancing over Y/n before dropping their chin to their chest once again. “I don’t know where you came from; what timeline, what universe. But I don’t think I should be afraid of you seeing monsters.”

“That talk?”

They nod.

Y/n’s second question is timid, unsure even as she says them. “And want your SOUL?”

Chara’s head whips towards her. The brightness that illuminates them gives Y/n the answer she already knew—not that she feels any bit happier about it. The child opens their mouth, probably to question Y/n again, but she cuts them off. “You’re right. I’m not afraid of monsters. I don’t know why or how… I’m just not.” Ending her sentence with an awkward half-shrug, Y/n loops a finger in the hook of her pants. She swings her arms as she waits for Chara to either as questions or continue with her speech.

The woman stares up at the sky, after long minutes past with no answer. She sees no end to it, though no beginning to indicant to tell if where she is staring is the sky or ceiling—or maybe the ground itself and the two of them are standing on the sky. That’d be weird. She remembers dreaming of doing the exact thing as a child.

Her eyes glance down at Chara. They have a concentrated expression. Have they always had those shadows under their eyes? Why has it only bee them here? Did they do something wrong? Have they always been here? Where—

“Oh.” Y/n follows their gaze. She squints, not knowing what she is seeing. Whatever it is, it’s shimmering, a different kind of gold. It’s in the distant horizon. Y/n wonders what it could be.

When she finds Chara in her sights again, something in her stomach drops. Their eyes are squeezed shut, muscles in their jaw constricting. Their hands are tiny fists at their sides, trembling with some unknown effort.

Y/n lifts a tentative hand, wanting to lay it on their shoulder; maybe wrap them into a hug. The child shakes their head. They breathe in deeply, chest falling slowly. It takes Y/n a minute to realize it, but they are forcing themselves to become calm; to reign in whatever was happening to them.

“Chara…? Hey—Ouch!!” Y/n snatches her hand away. She gapes from her stinging hand to Chara, who is now being completely shaken by tremors. She winces as she touches her fingers. Out of nowhere, Chara’s skin become too hot to touch. True enough, she had been touching their sweater-clad shoulder, but it doesn’t stop the untouchable _heat_ of their arm.

She isn’t going to touch them again—not without knowing if its safe to—so she settles for calling out to  them.

Chara doesn’t hear her.

Desperate and afraid, Y/n turns to the void around her. There _has_ to be something in here, right? Somewhere Chara could lie down. Or—Or _something_ to help them. When Y/n begins running, the only thing on her mind is to find a tool, or a device that could help Chara through whatever is hurting them so much.

The light around her remains the same. Pale yellow, endless. Aloud she curses this place. The first strands of anger appear, and she catches hold of them. Y/n uses it to propel her forward, to plead with God to help her out here. She swipes at angry tears, her lungs burning the longer she runs.

It soon hits the human that she is no longer running for Chara; even as she knows the child must still be suffering long behind her. She is running for herself. In anger and fear. She wants to get out, get back to her old life. This place is too vast, too lonely, too quiet to be stuck in. She can’t—she just can’t! Why does she—why does Chara—have to be in this place. What did they do?

Y/n trips. A startled gasp slips past her lips as she tries to catch herself. It doesn’t happen like she hoped it would, and she crashes to the ground anyway at the exact moment everything around her is plummeted into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s almost as if she doesn’t exist at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ACTUALLY GOT SOMEWHERE TODAY!!!  
> Hey, this is actually close to my average chapter length, so hopefully it stays like this and whatnot.  
> Hope you guys enjoy this one!

Her eyes are open; she knows they are. She touches her eyelids once again, feeling the lashes brush against her fingers. She pinches her arm, eyes watering as she holds the skin between her fingers longer than a few seconds. She is staring at something. It’s worse than dark, almost inky and unseeable. Worse than being outside on a cloudy night.

Maybe this is what Chara meant. The pitch black she sees now fits the name of _“The Void”_ rather than that pure light Y/n woke up to. A timeless place. She imagined maybe a more creative name, at first maybe something that was actually _scary._ But this—she can only stand still, unable to see, and too afraid to move.

That light that had been there before disappeared with Chara—wherever they are. Y/n was only starting to become comfortable with it. It made her wary, but it also made her feel almost safe. She didn’t think of it then, though, in the absence of it, Y/n wonders if that light had been protecting her. It seemed to. Because as soon as it was gone, after Chara vanished, there was a strong gut feeling that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Her headache subsided to a forgettable and soft throbbing.

Chara had moved so suddenly then. They left so quick, vanishing before her eyes. Y/n doesn’t get it. Her friend—are they alright? What happened to them. Y/n doesn’t know if there even is a right answer, and she can’t say why. Is that why they—

The small part of her chest she felt Chara tug on earlier pulses within the Void; it happens slowly, as if the reaction is delayed. She doesn’t understand why, when her heart is pounding a thousand miles a second and the blood is rushing in her ears, this part of her, is pulsing so slow. Aren’t the two—her heart and SOUL—supposed to beat in sync? It sounds right.

With the slow pulsing of her soul, Y/n feels a stronger emotion. Like missing someone. It’s…hard to figure out who it would be, aside from Chara or her parents. She doesn’t want to be alone; which is understandable. There is just a solid conviction that whoever it is, they mean something more to her. They were a part of her life, a person who she couldn’t live without.

But who could that be?

As she stands there, circling around the memories of friends and family, she can’t find a single person who has hit her so hard. She doesn’t forget people easily. And one who means so much to her?

Something isn’t right.

No. Not at all. Why is she coming up so short? Usually when someone is _so familiar,_ a person can tell you why in their sleep. If she misses her parents, Y/n could usually say it was because of homesickness and comfort. If she misses her friends, it would be because they made her happy, like both a distraction and a realization of the weirdest things in her life. They are people she could count on—from distressing her to giving her a reason to wake up every day. They are important to her. Always.

Yet this time she could not recall the person she apparently cares so much for. She goes around and around in her mind, searching through everything! She can’t see whom she could be skipping over; where the gap is.

It’s frustrating her. It hurts.

In unison with her emotion, her SOUL throbs.

Y/n blinks. She rubs her eyes and blinks again.

“ARE YOU SURE? WE CAN ALWAYS TRY AGAIN TOMORROW! OR…THE DAY AFTERWARDS, IF YOU WOULD LIKE….”

“Heh. I’m alright, Sans. I told you. I just haven’t eaten—”

“IN DAYS.”

There is some silence following the last statement. Whoever had been talking is silent now, and Y/n can feel the weight of the truth to the words. It’s the kind of thing only someone who cares about you would say; their tone accusing, yet soft all the same. She wonders why Chara would avoid eating.

“….Sans?”

“YES?”

“Could you put me down now?” A short chuckle follows, deeper than Chara’s normal tone. Y/n hears Chara land on the ground, their feet tapping lightly. “No, really, I can stand on my own.”

Everything around her is blinding. She feels something only slightly cold blow through her clothes as she shields her eyes. It’s headache inducing. First the Void—now here? _Where even_ is _here?_

Wincing and struggling to her feet, Y/n strains her hearing for Chara and the mysterious voice. The assault on her vision makes it hard to concentrate, though she tries. Stumbling over something soft, Y/n has no time—or sight—to stop herself from crashing into something. She jumps back immediately, opening her eyes for only the second time. From her landing spot on the ground, the figure is towering.

She feels their gaze on her, or at least she thinks so. She can’t tell with the shadows covering their face. “PAPY? IS THAT YOU AGAIN??” The voice is loud, the exact match to what Y/n was hearing before she actually _saw_ them.

She shields her eyes again, too dizzy to attempt conversation at the moment. “Papyrus?...Do you see him, Sans?”

There is silence. Y/n doesn’t feel eyes on her, not exactly. It’s more like a feeling, like a cursory glance over her general direction. “NO…. NOT YET, HUMAN.” Whoever is talking clears their throat, though the sound is small, Y/n hears it from her spot below. She wonders if they wanted Chara to notice the crack in their voice.

“Well,” As Chara moves around, Y/n rubs her eyes, furiously. It won’t get rid of the unbalance in her mind, but… “Maybe someone needs to go wake him? We’re supposed to be—”

“GOING SHOPPING TODAY.”

“Right!” Chara—at least Y/n hopes it’s the child—approaches her. They stare down at her, eyes clouded and unreadable. Chara reaches down to drop something into her lap. As they stretch up, Y/n gives a bewildered look to the object. They’re sunglasses, green and decorated on the sides with faded out swirls. What are they doing? “So we can still hang out tomorrow?”

There was silence for all of two seconds before the boisterous person confirms apparent plans for tomorrow. “DEFINITELY!” Sliding the shades over her eyes, Y/n waits for her vision to adjust. It takes all of a minute, looking around at the scenery—snow and what may be evergreen trees—and Y/n stops breathing.

_Where am I?_

Her SOUL bumps unevenly. Along with it, a spreading feeling of unease appears in her stomach. Is this…how long has she been here? Wh—What happened to the Void? Wasn’t it supposed to be some sort of will-bounding hell? Terrifying and lonely? Why is _she_ here?

Why does it anger her so much?

Chara slides a hand under Y/n’s arm, surprising the woman. She hadn’t realized they were at her side again, and Y/n looks around her for the skeleton—for Sans—as they pull her out of the snow. He has his back to her. Seeing an opportunity, Y/n stares down at the child in bafflement and begins to utter a question when they cut her off. “Ch—”

One swift glance up at their human companion, Chara says, “Not now.” Then they release their hold on her arm and lean around the human to wave. “Papyrus!” They wave over another skeleton, this one taller and emerging from the tree line. Y/n attempts to stay with their tone as it switches from somber to excite in seconds. Is there a reason they need to keep their voice down...? “Ready to go?” Chara asks once the gangly skeleton has reached them. It shrugs, eyes half-lidded and uncaring. Upon further inspection, Y/n notes their eye…lights….never stay on anything particular for long. Y/n shivers when its eyes slide over her. Just like Asgore. It can’t see her, but she can’t control the chills going down her spine.

The skeleton opens his teeth, lights fixed on a point beyond Chara’s shoulder. “not shopping, i guess.”

Chara shrugs unapologetically. “We need to talk, Paps.” Raising the fraction of an inch of a brow ridge, the orange-clad skeleton eyes them for a long second. Y/n stares between them, a wariness coming off the skeleton that rivals Chara’s sudden tiredness. She lifts the shades to her head, peering closer at them. _What is it, Chara?_

Before the skeleton lays a hand on Chara’s arm, Y/n gives him a stare. Chara called him Papyrus. He seems to be a mysterious one, laid-back. He also seems on alert after Chara’s request.

It’s strange the only person able to see Y/n is Chara. It’s odd that her memories are blurring, distorting, and reforming as she walks behind Chara and the skeleton in watery caverns. She tries ignoring the deep hurt spreading from her heart that the two skeletons—Sans and Papyrus—have not tried to acknowledge her. That they don’t even seem to be aware of her presence.

As if she doesn’t exist at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a friend of mine pre-read this chapter. She said that the story might be better with more dialogue. I guess I didn't think about that as a thing readers looked for (both actively and unknowingly).... So what do you think? More dialogue? Do you think this could be easier to understand (cuz maybe it's just me but I feel like I lost a bunch of people in the last chapter) if the characters talked more??
> 
> Edit: Another revision to the story :)


	5. Do I Know You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She glances at the skeleton. It kind of…hurts….to look at him. She knows who he is—somehow. She feels desperation grip her, to know what he is to her. That memory was from the past, she knows, because if it weren’t….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just point out that coming up with chapter titles is hard as heck? Trying to have it fit and sort of describe the chapter/story....

“So you don’t see her. At all?”

“chara. what are you even talking about?” Rubbing his phalanges against the ridge of his nose, the skeleton looks down at the ground with a sigh. There is water rushing behind him. Bright stones in the ground and walls illuminate the rooms, if barely. Y/n still has a difficult time seeing the exact expression of both beings, though standing right beside Chara is easier than being beside the skeleton. She stares at him again, trying to figure him out.

“She’s been following me around. Since Asgore found me in the Ruin’s. Why?” Y/n almost protests at the accusation, until a desperate edge catches their voice. They stare up at Papyrus, pleading. Y/n coughs in bafflement. It was easy to tell when they had been faking emotion and expressions with Sans. When Chara talks to Papyrus, the exhaustion in their voice so evident—Y/n wonders what the relationship with the two of them is exactly like.

Papyrus glances up. A faint outline of orange light circling his eyelights. “are you joking with me?”

Chara bristles. Papyrus’ somber tone and the hurt in their expression makes Y/n all the more uncomfortable. “No! I… Papyrus.....This _is not that._ I—” Chara drags a hand through their short hair. They sigh sadly. “They were in the Void, too. F— _The other person_ is literally attached to my SOUL; where I go, they go. But this person, Y/n, she doesn’t. I honestly do not know how to explain this to you.”

“the truth never hurts.”

“That is what I am doing! You don’t trust me—I get that. But this….” Chara lowers their voice to a conspiratorial whisper. They glance at Y/n. “I need to help her. I do not know why. It’s…just a feeling I have, okay? So quit giving me that look.”

Y/n’s gaze shoots up. From leaning in with Chara, she is closer to is skeleton than before. The luminescent light from the stones outline his skull, casting more shadows on the front of his face. It’s an eerie look; but Y/n can’t look away. “you’ve gotten better, kid. i’ll give you that.” The skeleton reaches out and ruffles their hair. The look he gives them is soft, sort of proud. “’sides. holding a grudge is too much work, **_ya know_**?”

She catches the shiver that runs down Chara’s spine. They turn their head away. She stares between the two. She is most definitely missing something. It doesn’t sit well with her, a different feeling than forgetting something. It’s kind of the same sensation she felt after meeting the skeletons; that her entire world will change.

After a long silence, the skeleton pushes himself off the wall. He gives Chara a tight smile. “riverperson’s still around. ready to go back?” Papyrus catches himself at the very end. Y/n hears it, almost as if he were about to say “ _ready to go back home”_ but…didn’t. Shrugging, Chara rubs their neck as Papyrus walks past them to where Riverperson must be. Y/n begins walking after him, but then she is pulled back by their arm. Chara doesn’t look at them. Y/n glances at the shrinking form of the skeleton, wanting to follow him.

“It’s a mix of good and bad decisions on my end. Curiosity. Anger. Hurt.” They let go. “What I did, well—I don’t really know you. Even with that demon, I never really trusted some ghost that followed me around.” They stare up at her, eyes flashing in anger. Y/n holds up her hands, trying to passively wave away the unwarranted feeling. Then Chara softens, their eyes still bright, but not necessarily furious. “But… Something in my soul says I can trust you.”

“…What?”

They sigh. Waving Y/n along, Chara begins to walk in the same direction as their friend. Whom Y/n can no longer see. “Call it a gut feeling; some intuition. I saw you in First Room and knew there was something off about you. Then Asgore didn’t seem to even notice you; not even Dummy or any of the Froggits—who are more intelligent than anyone knows.”

Y/n pauses. So it hadn’t been just her. She hadn’t been imagining those things. “But—what does that mean? Apparently I’m not dead, but I’m a ghost? How is that…” She trails off, her hands lifted up in defeat. A dead end. Chara may or may not know anything; the skeletons don’t....

Shrugging, Chara knocks on a few stones they pass. It seems like an absent-minded thing as they stare down the walkway. “Monsters can see ghosts. Technically, a ghost _is_ a monster.” They turn their gaze to Y/n, who had been staring off with the same hopeless stare as Chara. She shakes her head. This answers literally nothing. Except maybe the idea that Y/n is not some wandering ghost. And as bad as she wishes it to be true, there is no way that she is dreaming all of this up. Asgore, the puzzles, Stretch and Blue back in the Underground. “But that isn’t what you are. And…”

She stares at Chara’s darkened expression, their mouth moving against the backdrop of the illuminated waterfall. They cross the bridge, rushing rocks and water thundering in Y/n’s ears. She wonders how many times Chara has crossed this bridge; how many times has she had to run across it to save her life?

“What did you say?” She asks after putting distance between herself and the waterfall. She isn’t sure she really wants to know, but the thought of Chara being forced to go through every inch of this place endlessly worsens her already distraught mood.

The child shakes their head. They slouch, as if under some sort of pressure. It’s not a thing Y/n wishes she would have witnessed. “Nothing.”

A large patch of grass begins to enter their line of vision. They fall into silence, a chance to divulge in their own thoughts. Y/n realizes this may be what Chara does all the time. Is there someone who remembers them when they disappears? Someone has to miss them, right?

There has to be someone unaffected by the changes the Void causes. If anything that transpired between Stretch and Chara—and her own experiences—have been any indication. But who would that be? Stretch? Or maybe Chara just told him the things they have done because they trust him. Maybe someone else knows what’s wrong.

“Earlier you told St—Papyrus you weren’t _that person._ Who were you talking about?” The grass tickles her skin. It’s softer than she imagined it would be. She runs her fingers through the tall blades until she emerges behind Chara.

“You were about to call him something else.” Chara says softly as they slow their steps. Y/n looks back at them. She waits for Chara. “Do you…know him by a different name?”

“N—Sort of. It—my memory—just kind of lapses into different…times, I guess. I don’t know how. It’s as if my SOUL knows something different than what my mind is saying and therefore fills the holes?” She rocks on her feet in awkwardness. “I’m sorry. That may have—”

“still talking to your imaginary friend, huh?” Both humans jump at the sudden appearance of Stretch. He now has a cigarette between his teeth, leaning against the wall with his ankles crossed. Y/n feels her heart jump. She finds the pose fitting for him.

Chara narrows their eyes, now looking around Y/n. “What happened?” They sound accusing.

Y/n steps to the side, her gaze not leaving Stretch as she finds herself staring at him once again. His eyes are filled with mirth, though still lidded. She realizes he’s making fun of Chara; and whatever he is about to say next will be worse. “I thought you were going to take a ride with Riverperson?”

“and _i_ thought you were following me.” His eyes slides around in the air, oblivious to Y/n’s actual location. “guess not.”

Crossing their arms, Chara glares at the skeleton. He doesn’t seem to care, which does not surprise the woman. He’s always given off the impression of a lackadaisical monster. He has interest in the craziest things, if only to throw someone off. Y/n can imagine him taking off his shoe and throwing it just because.

The small human bristles at the underlying meaning to his words. Glaring at Stretch seems to involve something more than a childish stand-off. Not to prove themselves, but for…a more serious reason. Stretch is staring back, inhaling and exhaling the cig slowly. Y/n’s natural amazement is as to how he can smoke without lungs, though she knows it has something to do with the faux imagination of the repository system.

Achingly long minutes pass until Stretch breaks the staring contest. He looks up to the ceiling, slouching even more against the wall. “you know why i can’t let this go,” he says softly.

Chara says nothing.

“i can’t say i’m sorry, but howzabout a fine burg. you love those.” A compromise? Y/n is genuinely shocked. It’s out of character. Different. Stretch has made a few with her, and not always for something _he_ did. They were random things. She’d be doing absolutely nothing, or too much—if only to distract her mind—and he’d appear. _“wanna grab a bite? maybe then you’ll quit hurting my head by moving ‘round so much.”_

She blinks. That…was unexpected. She has a memory of Stretch? Where were they? Aboveground? That smile he had, the concern in his eyelights. She bows her head, heart heavy. Not only is she disturbed by her own situation, but Y/n knows that something is not right here. When she looks back up, she realizes that whatever it is, Chara did something. And to lose the trust of Stretch, it must have been terrible. Yet they seem to be gaining it back, slowly. He is avoiding saying what they did outright, which means he either doesn’t want to or doesn’t want to hurt them.

She glances at the skeleton. It kind of…hurts….to look at him. She knows who he is—somehow. She feels desperation grip her, to know what he is to her. That memory was from the past, she knows, because if it weren’t….

Pushing the thoughts aside, Y/n tries turning her mind back to figuring gout the two beings. Chara did something, for sure. Though Chara is not the only one that did something wrong. Y/n can see it when she watches the two. Stretch hurt Chara. Somehow, he did it, and it has left a deep scar on the child. She doesn’t like it. Maybe it’s in part because they at least look and act like a child, but whatever happened….

It shouldn’t have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly hope you guys are enjoying this story. I've gotten questions about theories and things to come (guys, I still love them. You're amazing) and I can't describe how I felt when I saw them. The kudos, the hits, and all that jazz-it may not seem like much but I appreciate them.  
> (P.S. This is probably my favorite chapter so far (though I can't wait until...further in the story!!!).)


	6. Welcome to the Outside World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are gonna expect news from him—good news. A cure. Some sort of hope.
> 
> He has none.
> 
> Not for them, and not for himself, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh~ New chapter, a week later. (And shorter)

In the background, the computers buzz. The room is illuminated by only a few lamps, all either crowded near his desk or on the most recent visited bookshelf. On the floor lie open books, pamphlets, scattered notebooks, and mugs of various drinks. He has a hand on his skull, head bowed as he stares blankly at the words under him.

 _“…though said effects are rare, the drug was not able to be administered by the Food and Drug Administration. Attempting further research was also stopped… All in all, this drug was deemed unsafe and being injected, swallowed, or given in any other way to a patient will bring unwanted effects.”_ Sans reads over the pages in a monotone voice. It isn’t the first one he has come across that has been stopped by some organization or quit because testing it became too dangerous.

He has been reading through books about medicine, checking what he doesn’t know with encyclopedias and medical dictionaries. He’s read over records and notes about the few matches, only to be crushed with disappointment. _it’s pointless,_ he thinks to himself—and not for the first time. He wants to do more; and has been. But constantly coming up at a dead end—

Spinning in his chair, Sans faces his multi-screened computer. They had been temporarily set in a mode to search through the Internet for any solution—or mention of—his problem. One screen is rolling with notes taken from websites with any indication to the specific words and phrases Sans filtered at least three other screens to. He stares at them, skull illuminated with blue light, though not any happier than he had been before. Rolling out his shoulders, Sans leans his head back in a long yawn.

A dull reminder in the back of his mind says that he should go outside. See his brother outside the confines of this room; maybe check up on Red and Blue—stars know they feel awful. But when he glances at the door, around his library-like office, Sans knows he can’t do that. They are gonna expect news from him—good news. A cure. Some sort of hope.

He has none.

Not for them, and not for himself, either.

A few clicks and taps of the screen, Sans has pulls up the CTV and monitors after staring endlessly at the other screens. Wirelessly connected to both his phone and computers, Sans has the ability to “checkup” on his human friend at any time. He views the same stats as before. It didn’t take him long to figure out the _normal_ vital checks to a human her age; a sixty to a hundred resting heart beats per minute, one-twenty over eighty blood pressure, though that may not be…..

Just as Sans had been reading over the past few days reports, his office door suddenly bursts open. He spins around, magic vibrating on the surface of his bones.

“s-there you are!! you need to get to her room right now. th—”

“stretch?” Blinking in the sudden flood of light, Sans squints to make out the identity of his friend. Stretch is standing in the doorway, though Sans can’t see his expression. He’s disoriented, temporarily confused by the light. “what do you mean?”

Then it hits him. Before Stretch can explain, Sans realizes who the skeleton is talking about. _of course it’d be about her._ He blips to the room upstairs, frantic and nervous. He stares down at her, eyes roaming up and down her body for any sign that something is wrong. He finds it.

Y/n is sweating bullets. Her eyes are screwed shut, mouth tight in some sort of emotion. “SHE JUST GOT LIKE THAT. ALL OF A SUDDEN. SWEATING AND…CRYING, I BELIEVE.” Behind Sans, his younger brother twists his fingers; eyes looking everywhere except the human. The anxiety is evident in his voice alone, and Sans briefly wonders why.

“jesus—sans, what the hell?”

“HEY—RED! WAIT—” Papyrus attempts to stop the angry skeleton, only to barely miss him. Red makes a beeline for Sans, anger vibrating his bones.

Sans half-turns his back to his edgy doppelganger. He isn’t going to indulge that madness. Besides, all that anger is just a mask for his worry. Sans only knows this—not only because Red can be easy to read—but because he feels the same thing, if a little differently.

One hand on the side of her face, and the other measuring her pulse, Sans blocks out the melee around him. He needs to concentrate. He needs to know what is wrong with her; why is this happening. He prays that it isn’t like before—it can’t be. They—

“River Person?.... Wow, your boat is…really nice.” Her voice comes out completely normal. Even and a little high, just as it always is when she tries to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.

Sans freezes. He had been in the midst of re-attaching the pads on her skin that allows him to read her current state when she spoke. He stares down at her in horror, mouth open. She is still sweating, eyes moving under her eyelids. He touches her head, moving in closer to hear her breathing. He waits, hoping that maybe…she will wake up. She doesn’t. “y/n? y/n. ca-can you hear me?” he tries.

He stands there for however long. He keeps a hand on her forehead, the other flitting from her arms to her sides and face. He doesn’t know what to do. She can speak? Riverperson? He can’t recall ever telling her about them; or the others mentioning the boatperson any other time. She knows about Undyne, the Echo flowers, and whatever other bits of things the others told her from their own timeline.

As he stares at her, mind reeling from what happened, Blueberry speaks up, voice soft, yet louder than ever. “…WHO DO YOU THINK SHE IS TALKING TO?”

Sans sinks to the floor. He grasps her hand after sliding down. He closes his sockets, head on the edge of the bed. Someone around him moves, their clothes rustling in the silence.

“i have no idea.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is how it's gonna be from now on. Sans is another character to write from. But mostly Y/n. Mostly //you//(????)
> 
> Edit: I honestly love writing from Sans' POV. This boy... I know that there are some fans out there who don't like the general assumption/acceptance of Sans being this dark, sheltered, tortured skele who pushes everyone away (hi.) But, I mean, if he's really brought alternate versions of himself and his brother and his best friend is in a coma--wouldn't he feel some sort of blame and guilt within himself? Doesn't he believe he deserves some sort of punishment. And besides the others being general assholes, how can he come to terms with the things he has done. The lives he has //ruined//
> 
> Sorry, but I feel that trying to rationalize this out will help me (and you) think about this.


	7. Control This Blur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara, much to their credit, remains as they are. Y/n’s attention diverts for only a second to see them snag their bottom lip with their teeth, and their eyes meet hers.
> 
> “…It isn’t normal though….” Chara whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 2 months since my last update. Today just might be a triple update, but I'm not sure yet. Thank you for every read, like, and comment guys! They really mean a lot!!

“He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. Longer than he may even remember.” Chara says solemnly as they stare over Y/n’s shoulder. Their gaze is fixed, though also unseeing. They curl their fingers around their calf, drawing their legs into a crisscross.

The humans are in the Void again. Y/n isn’t sure how she went from Waterfall to the Void—or vice versa. Only that maybe it has something to do with Chara, which is more than the small human is willing to admit. Y/n looks down at her own hands. The silence around them is magnified by a thousand times as they sit there. _And they have been here so long,_ Y/n surmises. She feels the slight, though bearable, throbbing of a headache as she brings her mind back to where she is. What she should be finding out.

When Y/n talks, it sounds like shouting in the golden-like space. She ends up voicing her thoughts in a whisper, though still too loud for her ears. “And he…remembers certain things after a, ah, RESET?” Though it sounds like a question, it comes out more like a statement. Solid. A confirmation, sort of.

Chara hasn’t looked at Y/n since they have returned. Y/n, at first, was baffled. One minute they were walking along the glowing walls of Waterfall, trailing somewhat behind Stretch—and the next everything is gold. She thought that, maybe, they never left the Void. It was a wild thought conjured from fear and a strong sense of unease. The feeling faded though when Chara began to speak. They were explaining something to her; as unimaginable as it seemed at first.

The entire thing sounded like a video game to her. A messed up one, too.

_“So. Wait. Everyone just…resets? Like, everything?”_

_Chara nodded; reluctant to answer questions even though they vomited this information at Y/n. “It’s all pre-set,” they go on. “Each time I finish, say, and ending, they go back to how they were when I first met them.”_

_Y/n braced her arms behind her feeling nauseous. She waited a couple of minutes before asking another question, afraid of the answer. “….Can’t everyone…move one from the “game”?”_

_Before the female human could go on to clarify, Chara stopped them with a vigorous shake of their brown head. “No. No matter—Whenever I choose to reset, they start over. Even if I_ don’t _, this game only allows me to go so far before automating it for me.”_

_“It’s_ controlling _you!?” Y/n shrieked._

_Chara flinched so hard at the outburst that they changed the subject quickly afterwards to one other thing the humans had in common, their trembling hands hidden in fists._

Asking about the logistics of the game felt too sensitive for Y/n to approach again, but she felt she needed to know. Before she could ask something else, Chara beats her to speaking. “Only certain people can. He is, most definitely, one of them.”

“Why?”

The question isn’t meant to make the small human feel any negativity coming from Y/n; she doesn’t want to hurt or offend them. But somehow her question manages to come out harsh.

The silence between them seems to stretch. Y/n sees the apprehension in their shoulders, their suddenly stiffened back. They snap their eyes to the side, though not towards Y/n. Y/n tenses up too, knowing that somehow she crossed a border, asked something she should not have. Though Chara should have expected the small query. If they want Y/n to know things, as they told her, then….

They finally lay their ruby eyes on her. They are heavy as she stares back, and she knows they must be judging her, in some way. “In your timeline he is peaceful. Carefree, even. Right?”

Thrown for a loop, Y/n says, “W-Well yeah. I guess you could say that.” Though she keeps the small, almost-threatening moments she has seen to herself.

Chara shakes their head. Like they are pitying her for something beyond her reach of knowledge. “You don’t know what that skeleton is capable of, Y/n. Just one _look_ from him has you feeling as if—” They cut off. Coughing strangely, Chara averts their eyes, the edge to their gaze gone.

Surprising herself, Y/n blows out a small breath once their heavy gaze is no longer on her.

Chara mumbles something under their breath, to which Y/n barely catches the last word of. She leans forward, eyes squinted. “What?”

The child jumps. Y/n jumps too. She places a hand over the slight fast beating of her heart. _Okay…._ “Chara—Yowch!” Jumping again, Y/n doubles over. Something like being shocked passed through her chest, leaving a painful buzz just under her heart.

Wincing as she rubs the heel of her hand to her chest, Y/n glances at Chara. They are just in front of her, hand suspended in the air. Y/n shakes her head. Just as she is about to say, “I’m fine” when another bizarre shock goes through her body.

_What’s…going on….?_

Gasping, Y/n struggles not to scream. After looking down at herself, she finds that she’s glowing. Not like a glow stick, or some sort of nightlight. But there is a soft white light along the outline of her body. It is just on the outside of her arms; and when she lifts one hand in front of her face, she sees a sort of wavering in it. Like it’s…buzzing.

It isn’t even an awful feeling. In fact, Y/n would say that it’s comforting. Like going home. The only thing that obscures the welcoming feeling of security is the slipping of her sanity, first and foremost.

Chara, much to their credit, remains as they are. Y/n’s attention diverts for only a second to see them snag their bottom lip with their teeth, and their eyes meet hers. The human woman breathes deeply from her nostrils. She opens her mouth to offer them a joke only to fall short of herself. She stares back down at her arms. The light-glowing thing around her form is spreading down her torso now. It isn’t as fascinating as it could be when her heart is pounding a thousand miles a minute.

_This can’t be that odd. This is the Void, Y/n! Who knows what kind of crazy things happen here on the regular._

“…It _isn’t_ normal though….” Chara whispers. Y/n shakes her head.

_Keep calm, Y/n._

She winces as a buzzing feeling takes hold of that spot just below her heart. She realizes belatedly that whatever it is, it’s reaching for her SOUL. Struggling against it would be useless, that much she knows. So—

Y/n blinks back hot and fearful tears. In the next instant, someone is yelling in her ears. She can’t see them—or much of anything—but the voice is familiar. Something in it is, at least. It’s ragged and calloused as if they have done more screaming than actual talking. Y/n listens to it even though she can’t place where it comes from.

_“GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT, HUMAN!!!”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh well thank god. 
> 
> This little part of our story is finally over--I hope. My original plans are not at all translating here so I'm trying;;


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light from somewhere catches the edge of Red’s golden tooth. Y/n doesn’t take her eyes off him as she steps into the clearing, leaving her temporary sanctuary behind. “What are you?”

"sonuvabitch! he got away again!!!" Stomping under a tree, an undeniably sweaty skeleton throws his hands up, huffing and cursing around the tree. "that bastard always escapes at the last minute! next time—next time imma kill that fucker! i swear it."

Y/n stares out into a wobbly circular clearing. Purple and blue in color the grass rises up to tickle her ankles, even as far away as she is. From her viewpoint, she can see that the skeleton and human have stomped over some of the grass. Looking like multiple computer monitors sit on the ground not far from the monster in one giant clump; some parts seem to be missing, though welded together in a mix and match fashion. Y/n wonders what it could be as she turns her eyes back to the human.

Rolling their eyes, a lean and shorter human places their hand on the skeleton's shoulder. Y/n notices the flower wrapped around the upper half of the human immediately and leans forward in curiosity. She remains careful to keep herself hidden within the tree line. Behind her, the drooping branches of drenched trees make it all seem scarier than it probably is. Y/n turns her back to the dark forest with a surprising confidence that nothing will attack her. "If there's even a next time, you mean," the human continues solemnly.

Red looks up with a cold look. "I mean, think about it, Sans." They say. "Since that surge of power, everything's been...off. That goop has been making more appearances than ever. It doesn't rain here anymore—and so many other things. You should—"

"yeah. i done went o'er e'thing with ya… i know." Subdued, Red is calmer than before. Even serious. The odd bluish light casts a strange glow to his bones. She isn’t sure how to feel about it as she lets go of the tree she had been gripping, Y/n hesitates walking over to her skeleton and the human. They haven’t noticed her yet. Which means that if she approaches them now she could catch them at a time no one else is around. No bigger chance of not getting attacked or harmed by these two; and she is sure of it. After all, Chara hadn’t attacked her.

**“What are you?”** Y/n shrieks. She whirls around, palm scrapping the nearest thing she could hold onto. The voice that was behind her—she is certain it hadn’t been there when she looked only a second ago. Kind of soft, yet full of static. She stares into the darkness, eyes squinting to see as far as they can. She didn’t imagine it, did she…?

She turns her head, just to see if Red and the human are still there. When she glances behind her, the woman chances speaking out into the dark in spite of what may be in there. She refuses to step into the dark forest—the memory of the Void is still an all-too-clear visage. “Who said that?”

Something brushes her leg and on instinct, Y/n jumps away. The overgrown grass rubs against her ankles once more, and she wonders if she is just being jumpy. Still, she throws her gaze down and finds a flower is staring up at her, yellow and green; the same one that was attached to the human moments ago. **“I kind of didn’t mean to scare you but…”** Lifting its leaves, the flower does the equivalent of a shrug. **“I guess Sans has been rubbing off on me.**

Y/n blinks. She has seen talking skeletons, rattily dummies, and educated cats. Okay. A flower isn’t all that strange, she guesses.

Squatting down to get as best a level to the plant as possible, Y/n studies it. There are bags under its eyes, two curved tears in one of its five petals. And it doesn’t seem afraid of her. _Yet._ “Who are you?”

The flower rolls its dark eyes. Y/n stares in amazement. Not only can it talk, but it can also be sarcastic. A corner of her mouth quirks up as it begins speaking in an off-key sugary voice. **“Flowey the Flower! The first monster you’ll meet here!”**

“…Um. Then could you, uh, tell me about the human over there?” Following her finger, the flower stares past the line of trees. Red is now leaning against the same dark tree he had been hitting, sockets closed. Above him, the human in red and black is climbing. Y/n struggles to see more of their features from where she stands some yards away. She wonders if maybe they are like Chara.

Their name brings a sharp pang to her chest. For one second, Y/n feels so still, so lost, that she jolts hard when Red’s voice reaches her ears. “the thing’s disappeared by now, frisk. you know this.” He opens a socket and looks up the tree, where he can undeniably watch the human.

“Yeah,” they pause on a branch, staring hard into the distance. “But he couldn’t have—”

“we’re just gonna have to wait this one out. the goop knows what he’s doing. and enticing him again isn’t gonna bring ‘m out any faster.”

“Sans.”

“wh—fuckin’ stars!” Y/n jumps too. Frisk had leaped from a lower branch and jumped down. They remain stoic, unaffected by their companion’s fright. Sans glares at them.

**“…”**

Y/n glances at the flower. It is staring at her as if trying to figure out something. Y/n guesses she would too. “What?”

**“You look like a human…but you don’t _feel_ like one.” **She swallows. Chara’s words layover the flower’s. Is that what everyone she meets is going to tell her? That she isn’t human. Or monster. Or anything at all but some _thing_ at the same time? Cutting her eyes to the ground in a glare, Y/n knows she doesn’t want to hear any more. If that’s the case, someone should just send her back to the Void—if this isn’t it already.

As she stares down at the mud at her feet, she is frozen still, standing still between the trees _._ She clenches her fists in anger, arms crossing across her chest. Yes, she is painfully aware of the fact that she isn’t like Chara—or Frisk, apparently—a human who is obviously _human._ She is different.

She’s an anomaly. An enigma. Not even _Y/n_ knows what she is anymore.

_And she’s tired of hearing it._

“Flowey?” The human calls. Y/n glances into the clearing. They stare into the forest around them, obviously looking for their friend.

Flowey doesn’t move, neither does Y/n.

After a few more minutes of calling for the flower, and Sans’ sardonic remarks, the talking flower finally sighs. With a wave of its vibrant leaf, Flowey motions for Y/n to follow him. **“Whatever you are, maybe Frisk can help.”**

_How do I know they will see me?_

Shrugging off the thought, Y/n hesitates to step out from the dense tree line. Flowey is one step ahead of her. In front of the two of them Frisk and Sans are looking around them for their third companion; though neither notice Flowey halfway out of the shadows at the moment. One of them bumps against the odd-looking machine and it groans. “You should really know more about me before taking me to your friend over there,” Y/n mumbles under her breath. She isn’t looking at Flowey, instead to where Red is. Despite his gruff words and angry demeanor, it’s easy to tell he _is_ relaxed. In some way, as he teases Frisk and helps them search for the flower. Y/n watches him, aware of the flower’s gaze on her.

**“This timeline is a peaceful one. No one is going to let you ruin that, human.”**

_Is that to say a non-peaceful timeline is more common than this one?_ It’s a question right there on the tip of her tongue. Y/n clenches her jaw instead of asking it. There was an undercurrent to Flowey’s words, a warning. A threat, even.

Light from somewhere catches the edge of Red’s golden tooth. Y/n doesn’t take her eyes off him as she steps into the clearing, leaving her temporary sanctuary behind. A look to her side shows that Flowey is still beside her. She wonders why.

“Don’t worry about it, Flowey. I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in Underfell!! YAY
> 
> In my notes, I dub Underfell "Underhell" It's more amusing that way.


End file.
